use POE::Component::IRC::Service;
# Do this when you create your sessions. 'IRC-Service' is just a
# kernel alias to christen the new IRC connection with. Returns an
# object to access the IRC network state.
my ($ircservice) = POE::Component::IRC::Service->new('IRC-Service','P10') or die "Oh noooo! $!";

Takes three arguments: a name (kernel alias) which this new connection will be known by; the name of the sub-component to invoke; a hashref containing configuration information. Currently implemented is P10. Hybrid support will be coming soon.